It turns out that the unknown aircraft that struck Islamist*
militias in Libya last week belonged to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The air strike did not succeed in preventing the militias from capturing Tripoli's airport.
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| Islamist militiamen celebrate after capturing Tripoli International Airport. Photo: AFP. |
The planes – which operated out of Egyptian bases – were originally thought to be Soviet-made Su-24
bombers from Libyan stockpiles, which had previously been believed
non-operational. The UAE operates American F-16s and French Mirage 2000s. Both
are also used by Egypt. The use of U.S.-supplied weapons may be in violation of
agreements over their sale. The Emirati planes flew from Egyptian bases during
the bombing operation. Egypt considers the chaos in Libya to be a major
national security issue.
The U.S., the U.K, France, Italy, and Germany released a
joint statement condemning “outside interference” in Libya on Monday. All of
the five except Germany participated in air strikes in support of rebels
against the Qaddafi regime in 2011.
The Libyan government exerts no authority in the country.
The chaos seems to be evolving into a civil war between two coalitions of
militias – one Islamist, and one anti-Islamist. The anti-Islamists support the
current elected parliament, while the Islamists support the outgoing parliament
– meaning that Libya has, in effect, two rival legislatures.
Egypt has supported the anti-Islamists, who are led by a
rogue general named Khalifa Haftar. The Islamists, themselves backed by Turkey
and Qatar, currently control Benghazi and most of Tripoli (Libya's capital). Qatar probably also
supports Hamas and Syrian Islamists, possibly including ISIS – two accusations
it denies.
Egyptian representatives have not explicitly ruled out open
intervention in Libya. The well-armed Egyptian military is the largest in the
region, and would probably be able to quash the fighting in Libya with little
difficulty if it was fully committed. An invasion in support of the
anti-Islamists would almost certainly worsen the Islamist unrest in Egypt
itself. Unrest has led to more than 3,000 deaths – mostly civilian – since a
military coup overthrew the elected Islamist Prime Minister Mohammed Morsi in
2013. The Islamist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula is ongoing.
The violence in the Middle East has had one good result: Egypt
and Israel, who fought several bloody wars in the 20th century, are
now close allies in everything but name.
*The term “Islamist” describes the belief that Islam should
have a guiding role in politics. I am using the term exclusively to indicate
the ideology, regardless of the actions used to further that ideology.
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